The arbitrator looked at the dates on the pages that the counselor had submitted, and looked at the dates on the pages from me. And he actually winked at me. He ordered them to send me to a facility with a college program. They sent me to Karl Holton, in Stockton, east of San Francisco. Still a very long way from home, but I felt I had won, and felt very proud of myself. Looking back, I’m reminded of the lyrics from that Tom Petty song: “You could stand me up at the gates of hell but I won’t back down.”
